Final Fantasy X Interludes
by Empress-Eerian-Sadow
Summary: just a compliation of my ffX & X2 interludes series. a series of thoughts and perspectives from the characters in the games.
1. Jecht

Jecht's Interlude  
Origonally Published 5.15.2005

_A/N: would you believe that there was never an origonal author's note to go with this? that surprised me, since it was never supposed to evlove into the series that it became. origonally this was just a little songfic, inspired by Richard Marx's "Silent Scream." Obviously, it changed a great deal from the origonal concept. i still have the second section of this sitting around somewhere, and i may turn it into a second "Jecht's Interlude."_

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When we were planning for Braska's pilgrimage, I never imagined that it would end the way it did. Sure I was expecting some grand adventure, that would end in my friends saving the world and me going home to my wife and kid, but I never thought that Braska would die.

Or that I would become the most evil thing on the face of Spira.

When they pulled me out of that cell in Bevelle that day, I was a pretty big ass. But Braska kept his cool—and Auron's. Those two were really something. Braska all serene and determined, Auron all fire and pride. Three things in there that I lacked—that the drink had taken from me. Nothing short of the end of the world could have stopped those two. Made me feel small just looking at them.

So, I was an ass, and Braska was a gentleman.

But Zanarkand…How could I have not gone with them? Even when I didn't have any real skills to offer them, and Auron obviously didn't like me. Hell, I hadn't even known what a Summoner was.

But I'd have done damn near anything to get out of that cell and back home.

Some of their determination ran off into me after I met Yuna. Seeing her with Braska reminded me of what I should have had with Tidus and screwed up. That little girl adored her daddy—I would have done anything to make sure he came back home to her. She was like this beaming ray of light for all three of us.

After I found out that Braska was gonna die no matter what, it didn't matter so much. Being a Guardian wasn't just about defending Braska anymore. It was about making sure kids like Tidus and Yuna would be able to sleep safely at night, and that guys like Auron would have someplace to go after they laid down their swords.

I'd have done anything. I didn't know I was gonna.

_**Dream Zanarkand**_


	2. Auron

Auron's Interlude  
Origonally Published 3.08.2006_

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ORIGONAL AUTHOR'S NOTE: _my hands were shaking after i finished this. all i ask is that you read it and let it sink in before you review or flame._

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I don't know when I lost hope. When I realized that our quest was doomed to failure, whether we succeeded or not.

That nothing would change and my best friend would be dead no matter what.

I don't know when it happened, but I know that Jecht picked up on it, even if Braska never did.

It was sometime after we left Macalania when I realized that I didn't want to go on. That I didn't want to sacrifice my friend. That we were just being used as a stop-gap measure.

Jecht found me that night, alone by the fire, long after Braska had fallen asleep and dragged the truth of the whole affair out of me. He promised me that we'd find a way to change it, some way to save Spira and Braska.

Obviously it failed.

Braska died anyway, and Jecht with him. And the death of my hope led to my own destruction.

The foolishness of youth.

I still have my doubts. I don't believe that Jecht's plan can succeed. But even ten years later, what choice do we have? The Calm is over; Sin must be defeated again.

It would be so much easier if I could believe that this time it would be different. That I wasn't just escorting another Summoner to her death.

If I didn't believe that I would be left with nothing but pain in my soul where someone beloved used to be.

Nights like this make it very easy for me to understand how the Unsent can become fiends. Not because they envy the living their lives, but because they envy the living their hope of something better after death.


	3. Rikku

Rikku's Interlude  
Origonally Published 7.22.2006

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_ORIGONAL AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

_another interlude.ff 10 for a change, too. guess i got out of that seven rut for a little while. not sure if i'm happy with this one, but here it was. or there it was, or here it is or whatever. stephen king says a writer is most critical of their own work, and he's probably right, so you guys let me know what you all think._

* * *

Everything was different after I became a Guardian.

The world didn't change, or become magical or anything. I just _understood_, finally, why the Summoners do what they do. Pop had always said that they were sent by Yevon to die, just to make everyone happy for a little while. But that's not how it is at all.

Summoners go out to die because they choose to give everyone whatever happiness and safety they can, for as long as it will last.

Everything changed when I realized that.

It still makes me die inside when I think of what will happen to Yunie when this is all over, but I know that she's thought everything through. She _wants_ to defeat Sin, wants to make everyone happy, wants to keep Spira's hope alive just a little while longer.

I don't' want her to go. I want it to be some other Guardian's Summoner that brings the Calm, so that I don't lose her, too.

But I know that when Yunie goes up against Sin, I'll be standing right next to her, helping bring happiness for a little while longer.

Because happiness for a little while is better than despair forever.


	4. An Aurikku Interlude

An Aurikku Interlude  
Origonally published 7.22.2006

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_ORIGONAL AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

_for those of you who don't know, i'm a huge auron/rikku shipper. i can't explain why exactly, but i'm sure its the same reason i ship yuffie/vincent. anyway, i realized that i hadn't contributed to the auron/rikku community recently, so i drabbled this tonight._

_sorry, its a little sad, but i never thought these two could have a magical happy ending._

* * *

I always wanted to scream at him, "Don't go!" when I saw the even replayed in my dreams. After all, an unsent can live forever if that's what he wants.

But, I guess he didn't want it enough. Or I didn't give him a reason to want it.

He always said he would give me the world if it would make me happy, but he didn't even hesitate to let Yunie send him. He always said he wanted to be with me forever, but he didn't even try to take the chance.

I loved him so much, but I guess he never really loved me back.

But every night in my dreams, I wonder if he would have stayed if I had just said it to him.

"_Don't go, Auron."_


	5. Tidus

Tidus' Interlude  
Origonally Published 9.30.2006

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_ORIGONAL AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

_and tidus takes the prize for shortest interlude along witht the prize for interlude that i'm the least happy with. but here it is, so, whatever i guess. let me know what you all think._

* * *

Some days, its hard not to cry. Almost impossible really.

Especially now that I know the truth.

Yuna is going to die, and I can't do anything about it. I can be hopeful and optimistic and tell the others that I'll find a way, but we all know I'm lying.

At first, I wanted to cry because I was alone in a strange place. I didn't know anyone or anything. Then I wanted to cry because of what I learned about my father. Then I wanted to cry because I fell in love.

I can't keep the tears back for much longer. When she's gone, it'll all just come out and maybe never stop.

I think even my old man would have approved of crying, just this once.

Yuna wants to cry too, I can see it. But we'll both pretend to be strong, and hold in our tears until the very end.


	6. Shuyin

Shuyin's Interlude  
Origonally Published 8.08.2005

_AUTHOR'S NOTE, EDIT: personally, i still dont' have much to say about this one. i still don't like the ending, but no one's told me what's wrong with it yet. i was very surprised by the amout of positive feedback i got on it, tho._

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_ORIGONAL AUTHOR'S NOTE: _

_A/N: its short and i don't like it much. something about the ending doesn't work for me, but i'm having trouble pinning it down. please be dears and TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT! itemize! explain! don't just say "the end sucks" cause i know that! help me out, huh guys?  
eerian_

_DISCLAIMER: don't own any of the characters from ffx-2, or any other ff games._

* * *

We had our first fight the night Lenne got her orders to ship out to Gagazet. I had enough problems with the fact that—as a Summoner—she was part of the army. But actually going off to fight in the war was much much worse. But she thought of it as her calling. I thought she should just dropt the whole idea.

Going off to fight this war was suicide, I told her. She didn't agree. She actually thought Zanarkand had a chance to win. She told me that going out and bringing peace and victory back to the city was the destiny of the Summoners.

Her destiny. When the day before she'd said I was her destiny.

I told her it was stupid. The war, the fighting, Zanarkand thinking it could stand up to Bevelle, all of it. When she tried to explain it to me, I said I was stupid to think that she loved me more than her work.

She slapped me. And I deserved it. I knew that she loved me. I _knew_ it. But she loved Zanarkand too, and had to help defend it.

I understood after she stormed out. But it was too late then.

She didn't even say goodbye.

I knew I'd never see her again unless I did something. Never be near her again, or get to say I was sorry.

I loved her so much that I would have faced every battle machine in Bevelle to say I was sorry to her.

In my whole life I've never done anything I was more sorry for. Nothing else has made me feel so hopeless. And there's never been another circumstance that made me pray.

That night, I prayed with my entire being for a way to keep Lenne safe.

And this morning, I heard rumors of something that I think will work. I've found a way to stop the war. I've found a way to save Lenne.


	7. Yuna

_A/N: Well, I've gone and done. I gave in to the inevitable and started the Kingdom Hearts Interludes series. I knew it was coming, but it complicates things here on a bit. So, in response to that, I've decided to turn all my Final Fantasy Interludes into one big post, with each chapter being a separate Interlude and adding the original publication date to the entry. Newer stuff will have both the writing date and the publication date. I'll leave the old ones up for a few days to give everyone time to change their favorites, though, and to give me time to save all my reviews somewhere._

_Now, with all that out of the way, I give you Yuna's Interlude, a piece that I worked on off and on for a few weeks before managing to get it put down on paper. It's the most time I've spent on an Interlude without drastically changing the content, but it was still one of the easier ones to write. Though, I do think it took the prize for shortest Interlude from Tidus.

* * *

_

Yuna's Interlude

Written 10.31.2006  
Published 11.06.2006

I died in the woods.

When I realized everything that I had lost—and would lose—it killed my soul. I had always known I would die, but to do it for a lie and to leave behind the man I loved to do it destroyed me.

And yet, what else was there but to continue my journey? What other example did I have to follow but my father's? I didn't believe that I had any choice but to die for the happiness—the salvation—of Spira.

My happiness—and Tidus'—never figured into the decision. I had set myself on a path, and I didn't know how to deviate from it.

So, when Tidus told me he loved me in the water that night, I died.

Rikku tries to teach me to live again. But its so hard without him. I _want_ to live again, but I don't know how.

Sometimes, I wonder if I was ever really alive at all.


	8. Lulu

_this was born from one of those moments when i was working on something entirely different, but had a random thought. that random thought became the first line of this interlude. i then sat on that for a few minutes before the next line came and by that point, i realized that it was lulu's. i don't hate this one, but i'm not sure what i do feel for it. but its finished, and it was way easier than i thought it was going to be. its also a little depressing, but what else can i expect from lulu?_

* * *

Lulu's Interlude  
Written 01.19.2007  
Published 01.21.2007

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Yuna will die.

No matter how much we may wish that it will be different, that there is something we can do to change it, Yuna will die. That is the price one pays to become a Summoner.

And living with that knowledge is the price one pays for being a Summoner's Guardian.

A third Pilgrimage would have been more than most Guardians could stand, especially after the way my first ended, but how could I have let the girl I considered my adopted sister go to her death without me? The guilt of letting her go off to die alone would have worn at me more than the guilt of letting Chappu go had.

Wakka understands; he is traveling with Yuna for the same reasons. Kimahri understands, too, though Yuna has always been more of a daughter to him than sibling. We are all family, the four of us, and we cannot let the youngest of us go away alone.

Sometimes I believe that, anyway. Other times, I think that we are all going on this Pilgrimage in the hopes that we will meet up with the families we lost so long ago.


	9. Braska

_A/N: well, I'll be honest. I forgot that I had this finished. And then I opened my notebook up to type some stuff that I had been putting off, and there it sat. Of course, since it's been so long since I wrote it, I don't remember anything that I was going to say about it at the time. Such is life._

_Its short and I'm not sure how well I conveyed the emotions I was trying for—it seems lacking to me when I go back and re-read. But, as is standard policy, its an interlude, so its as done as it gets. Hope you all like it.

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_

Braska's Interlude  
Written Feb. 2007  
Published 28 March 2007

Someday, I hope Yuna understands. I hope that she will realize that, even with her in my life, Sin had taken away everything worth living for and that I had to stop it. I hope that she understands that I did it because I love her.

It was the death of her mother that finally sent me out on the pilgrimage, thought I may have gone soon anyway. People say I left with the intent to find a noble way to join my wife in death, but that isn't true.

I did it to make life worth living again, even if I wouldn't be there to see it. I left to give my daughter the kind of life she deserves to have—free of the terrors of Sin.

She cried when we left, and I know that she doesn't understand why I had to go now. But I had to leave while the monster could be defeated in time to let her really live life. I had to go so that she could experience happiness before it was too late, before she would be forever tainted by Spira's unending sorrow.

I left out of love and I will die out of love. I only hope that she understands one day.


End file.
